text: The compass, consisting of a magnetized needle whose orientation changes in response to the ambient magnetic field, is a simple type of magnetometer, one that measures the direction of the field. The oscillation frequency of a magnetized needle is proportional to the square-root of the strength of the ambient magnetic field; so, for example, the oscillation frequency of the needle of a horizontally situated compass is proportional to the square-root of the horizontal intensity of the ambient field.
  In 1833, Carl Friedrich Gauss, head of the Geomagnetic Observatory in Göttingen, published a paper on measurement of the Earths magnetic field. It described a new instrument that consisted of a permanent bar magnet suspended horizontally from a gold fibre. The difference in the oscillations when the bar was magnetised and when it was demagnetised allowed Gauss to calculate an absolute value for the strength of the Earths magnetic field.
  The gauss, the CGS unit of magnetic flux density was named in his honour, defined as one maxwell per square centimeter; it equals 1×10 tesla (the SI unit).
  Francis Ronalds and Charles Brooke independently invented magnetographs in 1846 that continuously recorded the magnet's movements using photography, thus easing the load on observers. They were quickly utilised by Edward Sabine and others in a global magnetic survey and updated machines were in use well into the 20th century.